


Cross My Heart

by FayeValentine



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Cat/Human Hybrids, ChanKai, Chanyeol x Tattoos, Cutie Jongin, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kitty Jongin, M/M, Romance, SO MUCH FLUFF, Sehun is still a Maknae, Soft Chanyeol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 04:57:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11479089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeValentine/pseuds/FayeValentine
Summary: Chanyeol is a tattoo artist, full sleeves and piercings galore. Jongin is a soft as can be kitty hybrid, abandoned in a box on the street and Chanyeol is the one to pick him up.It was difficult to explain, but Chanyeol was soft for Jongin.





	Cross My Heart

* * *

**Cross My Heart**

* * *

 

 

**UNINIVERSE BOTTOM JONGIN FIC FEST**

_Prompt #8006_

  
**Summary: Chanyeol is a tattoo artist, full sleeves and piercings galore. Jongin is a soft as can be kitty hybrid, abandoned in a box on the street and Chanyeol is the one to pick him up.**

**It was difficult to explain, but Chanyeol was soft for Jongin.**

 

 

 

 

  
They met on a late evening when Chanyeol was coming home from work. He had just closed up his shop when he heard a faint sniffle coming from the alley right between his building and the next. Curious at the unusual noise, Chanyeol walked down the street and stopped at the opening of the alley. Nothing but the sight of a tipped over trashcan and an oversized box greeted him. Shaking his head to himself, Chanyeol chalked up the strange noise to some stray dog and he turned on his heel to head back home when he heard it again.

  
The faint heart wrenching sniffle was one that usually occurred after a full out sob fest and Chanyeol felt his own heart breaking a little when the sniffle turned into a muffled hiccup. So it was with a sense of compassion he usually reserved for good art or plushies, Chanyeol turned around and walked down the alley. His footsteps echoed in the narrow space between buildings and the sad sniffles stopped completely when he reached the box.

  
It was tilted on its side and the only way that Chanyeol could see into the cardboard would be if he crouched, and he did just that. Maybe he thought it was another random drunk who needed a good shoulder to cry on or a vented rant, so when he was met with the sight of big red rimmed brown eyes, chocolate colored hair, and fluffy white ears, he was stunned.

  
There in the box, was a _cat_ hybrid. A hybrid he wanted to feed and throw a fuzzy blanket on and hug like there was no tomorrow, he was _that_ cute.

  
A whimper was heard the longer Chanyeol stared and the kitten curled up further inside the box, his eyes wide and frightened as he flattened his ears to his head and gripped his tail harshly between petite hands.

  
“G-go away!” The kitten said with a tired hiss about as threatening as a real cat batting at butterflies in the park.

  
The mental comparison had Chanyeol stifling a laugh behind a large hand, taking notice of the way the cat’s eyes were drawn to the ink fanning over the back of his hand, it was a spider web Chanyeol remembered getting when he was half drunk. It turned out more lace like and delicate than he had expected, but the sharp and thick inky lines gave it a certain masculine boldness that he admired.

  
The kitten’s eyes passed over his hand and his small form tensed and hunched down even more when he saw the harsh lines of moving fire running up his forearm, leading to a rendition of the devil. Above it was a tattooed archangel, but the mere sight of the demon falling into flames above his elbow had the little thing whimpering. It told a story of his past conquering his own fallacies, but most people focused on the fact that he had a hellish tattoo inked on his arm in a full sleeve.

  
“P-please g-go away!” The kitty hybrid stuttered out and Chanyeol was horrified to see tears sparkling in the corner of his sweet brown eyes.

  
“Oh no, don’t cry!” Chanyeol said, flailing his hands in front of the cat with his palms out, forgetting that the tattoos covering the expanse of his other arm were now in view too. Another thing Chanyeol forgot about was his horrible volume control, and his booming voice echoed harshly in the alley, startling the cat even more and making him whimper in fright. It was not unusual for Chanyeol to scare the crap out of people he met on the street, most pedestrians even crossed the road and walked on the other side of the street just to avoid him. He knew it had to do with his looks and height, and he really wished at times that he didn’t let Baekhyun dye his hair bright red. It was a color that warned people off since it could be easily compared to blood, and the scar slashing his eyebrow in half, not to mention his piercings and tattoos didn’t help endear him to strangers either.

  
Recognizing the fear in the cat’s eyes, Chanyeol cursed aloud at his own idiocy. But when the cat flinched in response, he immediately tried remedy his mistake, softening his tone and lowering his voice to something he hoped was soft and soothing. “I’m not going to hurt you. Please don’t be scared.”

  
His pleads fell on deaf ears, the cat still flattening the triangular white appendages to his head. Chanyeol sighed and decided to try the method he had of dealing with kids. “Do you like candy?” he asked and one kitty ear flicked up and the cat’s nose twitched with interest. He was still hunched as far as he could get in the box, leaning away from Chanyeol but all the tattooed man needed was that slight relaxation in his posture for him to reach into the pocket of his ripped up black jeans.

  
He kept a handful of assorted color hard candy, just so he could hand it out and make kids less scared of him when he visited the library. He pulled one out of his pocket and the bright wrapper around the sweet treat had the kitten peering at his hand with undisguised want. ‘ _Heh, gets them every time,’_ Chanyeol thought smugly, mentally patting himself on the back as he reached further within the box.

  
“You can have it,” The tattooed man said and almost as soon as the offer was made, the cat snatched the small piece of candy from Chanyeol’s hand, sharp little claws leaving slight welts in the wake of the cat’s eagerness. Completely surprised, Chanyeol let out a yelp and fell back on his ass. The hard concrete and a couple wicked pebbles poked him and he winced, rubbing his butt in pain.

  
A small huff coming from inside the box had Chanyeol looking up. The kitten had one hand curled in a fist, hiding the smile on his lips as he tried to cover up a laugh. He must have seen something in Chanyeol’s expression because he eventually gave up trying to hold back and his light giggles filled the alley. The bright and happy sound made Chanyeol smile, embarrassment long forgotten as he watched the kitten’s eyes scrunch into crescents.

  
“…Would you like to come home with me?” Chanyeol blurted and the giggling stopped. The kitten was staring at him with wide eyes now and Chanyeol found himself floundering. “I-I mean, uh you don’t _have_ to!” The kitten was still looking at him with big brown eyes, his white ears perked up on his head. Apparently that look made Chanyeol feel the need to shove his foot in his mouth. “I-It’s just that I-I want to roll you up in a blanket and snuggle the hell out of you!!”

  
As soon as the confession was thrown out there, Chanyeol felt his face burn and he was sure that his cheeks were flushed the same color as his hair. He wanted to take the cat home! Not weird him out and potentially chase him away, he was scared enough—

  
“O-okay,” the kitten agreed, fiddling with the wrapper of the candy Chanyeol had given him. His eyes were averted bashfully to the ground, a slight smile tugging the corner of his shapely lips up and Chanyeol immediately grinned.

  
“Alright. Let’s go home.”

 

 

ⓒ♡ⓙ

 

 

  
Surprisingly bringing the kitten, who told Chanyeol to call him Jongin, home wasn’t the problem, getting him _in_ the bath was.

  
“NO! I don’t want a bath!” Jongin protested, even though he was already stripped down to his boxers. His face was twisted in extreme dislike as he glared at the bathwater, a few tendrils of steam rising from the water and reaching his coiled brown and white tail. He struggled some more in Chanyeol’s hold and the tall male winced when sharp claws dug into his skin through his thin t-shirt.

  
“Kitten, it’s just a bath!” Chanyeol pleaded, leaning loser to the water and trying to dump Jongin in, but the cat hybrid clung to him even more. Sighing, Chanyeol wondered why he thought he could wrestle a cat in the bath, when his eyes caught sight of the assorted bottles lining the edge of the sink.

  
With an idea entering his mind, Chanyeol moved away from the tub, making Jongin relax slightly. Once he reached the sink, Chanyeol shifted Jongin to his hip and the kitten curled his tail around his waist, hanging on and watching the human suspiciously as he picked up a shiny bottle full of pink liquid.

  
Walking back to the bathwater, Chanyeol popped open the bottle and he felt Jongin lean a little closer to the bottle, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air curiously. “Do you know what this is?” Chanyeol asked, a teasing lilt already in his voice because he knew that playing on the cat’s natural nosiness would work.

  
Shaking his head, Jongin uncurled an arm from around Chanyeol’s neck, trying the touch the bottle and huffing when Chanyeol used his longer arms to move the sweet smelling thing out of his reach. “No, what is it?”

  
Smirking, Chanyeol shoved the bottle under Jongin’s nose and watched with satisfaction as he took a couple appreciative sniffs. “This is something magical.”

  
Jongin’s ears flicked back and forth and he seemed to be deciding whether Chanyeol was telling the truth or not because his eyebrows were furrowed and his pretty eyes were just the slightest bit narrowed. “Magic isn’t real.”

  
Chanyeol hummed and merely began pouring the liquid within the water. Jongin watched with interest, though his tail tightened briefly around Chanyeol’s waist, arms and legs still clinging to Chanyeol like a koala. The clear warm water slowly began changing to a light pink and Chanyeol heard Jongin gasp in awe as the bathwater began foaming, the bubbles appearing as an assorted rainbow of colors. “Now do you believe me?” Chanyeol teased, pouring out half the bottle of expensive bubble bath and not minding at all when he saw Jongin’s widened eyes and slackened jaw.

  
“It’s so pretty!” The cat squealed and all his squirming to touch the rainbow bubbles almost had Chanyeol dropping him in the bath. Thankfully, Chanyeol had enough presence of mind to place the cat on the tiled floor, a laugh escaping his mouth when Jongin immediately crouched and began batting at the sweet smelling bubbles.

  
“Are you going to take a bath now?” Chanyeol asked and Jongin nodded in excitement, shedding the last of his clothing before he hopped into the water and sat down. He splashed around a little and the human was pleased to see that his red rimmed eyes were bright, no longer holding a sadness that looked too heavy for the kitten to carry around on his shoulders. Maybe one day he’d ask why he was in the alley way, without his collar.

  
Jongin batted a cluster of bubbles and he cooed when they popped, releasing the delicate scent of candy that had his nose twitching earlier. Smiling, Chanyeol turned to leave, content to let the kitten play for a while, but a hand catching his wrist had him stopping and turning around in surprise.

  
“Don’t go! I-I need help washing my ears.” Jongin demanded, his brown eyes looking innocent as he blinked up at Chanyeol from under thick black eyelashes. His brown hair was a little damp, the curled tendrils clinging to his forehead and slim neck, almost reaching the faint empty tan line curling around his neck right where a collar used to be. His lips were pulled into a pout and Chanyeol knew he was weak when he immediately sat on the edge of the tub.

  
“I’m not leaving Kitten.” Chanyeol said and Jongin’s shoulders slumped in relief, though he flicked water at Chanyeol with his fingers, puffing up his cheeks in mock indignation. “My name is Jongin! And I’m not a _Kitten_ anymore.”

  
“Alright, alright.” Chanyeol said, chuckling as he cupped some water in his hands and carefully dumped it on Jongin’s head. The water ran down the middle of his white ears and Jongin sighed at the relaxing warmth it brought to his once chilled body. “But if you’re not a Kitten anymore, I guess you don’t need help washing your ears-”

  
“I don’t!” Jongin protested, flattening his ears to his head as if Chanyeol were going to grab them.

  
Seeing how flustered the kitten was, Chanyeol hid a smirk and stood up. “Well then I guess I should leave.” He pretended to walk away and wasn’t too surprised to feel a hand wrapping around his wrist again.

  
“I-I need help, please…” Jongin’s expression was pleading and the downturned pout on his lips made Chanyeol feel a little bad for teasing him. However, that didn’t stop his inner self from squealing at how cute the cat was and the tattoo artist immediately found himself sitting at the edge of the tub again. This time he smiled and patted Jongin’s hair as he grabbed the shampoo and began lathering it in the kitten’s hair.

  
Jongin looked wary of him leaving again, but he was easily distracted by the rainbow bubbles again and soon enough he was playing in the water. Jongin quickly adjusted to Chanyeol and he was treating the human as if he were more than someone he just met an hour ago. He also didn’t seem as scared of Chanyeol anymore and for that the human was glad, it wasn’t until the kitten appeared and took up so much of his attention that he realized how empty his flat was.

  
Once done with his hair, Chanyeol moved on to rubbing the soapy foam into Jongin’s ears. The white fur was matted down with water and they twitched under Chanyeol’s probing fingers. Most hybrids Chanyeol had seen had matching hair and fur colors, but the human found that he liked the contrast of Jongin’s soft brown hair and white kitty ears. His tail was as white as his ears, though the tip was the same brown as his hair. The mismatching contrast was cute and Chanyeol was reminded of his old neighbor’s cat, who had a black spot covering the middle of his muzzle, rather than a spot of white like most cats.

  
“C-Chanyeol-ssi, can I stay here for the night?” Jongin suddenly asked. Surprised, Chanyeol stopped pouring water over his ears, but the kitten kept his head down as he fiddled with a large bubble floating in the water in front of him.

  
Sighing, Chanyeol finished rising off Jongin’s ears. “What kind of question is that? You can stay for as long as you want, I did mean it when I said I wanted to bring you home.” Chanyeol answered and this time Jongin was the one sending widened and shocked eyes in his direction.

  
“..R-really? You m-mean it?” Jongin asked and Chanyeol was only a little horrified to see his eyes were getting shimmery with tears again. So he did the only thing his panicked mind could think of, he hugged the kitten and patted his wet hair while murmuring soothing nonsense.

  
At first Jongin tensed and Chanyeol almost backed away, afraid he overstepped a boundary, but then the kitten sniffled and buried his face into the crook of Chanyeol’s neck and shoulder. His thin arms wound around Chanyeol’s neck as well and he pulled the human closer, whispering a simple “ _Thank you_.”

  
The honest gratitude and blunt appreciation had Chanyeol forgetting the way his clothes were now soaked with bubble infused water, and in some quiet part of his mind Chanyeol knew that his impulsive decision was the right one.

 

  
ⓒ♡ⓙ

 

  
After giving Jongin a bath, the human had dried the kitten off and dressed him in some of his own worn clothes. The soft cotton t-shirt Jongin wore was too big on him, and the sweats Chanyeol loaned him almost swallowed his feet. It was cute to say the least, and it was made even more precious when Jongin waddled around Chanyeol’s flat, careful not to trip on the too-long hem of his pants, his tail curled high in the air behind him.

  
“Kitten, are you hungry?” Chanyeol asked, once he finished changing out of his wet clothes. After their little wordless heart to heart, Jongin had gotten playful and splashed him with water. Chanyeol had splashed back and a war broke out.

  
Jongin perked up at the mention of food, his white ears flicked forward in obvious interest. “Yes hyung! I want food!” The little chirp was followed with a sway of Jongin’s tail.

  
Chanyeol couldn’t help grabbing Jongin and squishing him in a hug, nuzzling into Jongin’s brown hair and cooing when his fluffy ears brushed against his face. Jongin was startled, but then he struggled to be let free, his complaints having absolutely no bite. In fact, Chanyeol wasn’t even sure he was struggling too hard.

  
“Hyung! Let _gooooo_!” Jongin huffed, somehow managing to twist himself in Chanyeol’s arms so that the human was now back hugging him.

  
“Alright, alright, just give me a minute of cuddling.” Chanyeol replied, holding onto Jongin’s waist and propping his chin on the slightly shorter hybrid’s shoulder.

  
“Fine. But I want chocolate.” Jongin bargained, squirming a bit more but after some fake grumbling he easily melted into Chanyeol’s arms.

  
Chuckling a little, Chanyeol reveled in the hug. He wasn’t always a touchy person, but there was something about Jongin that just had him feeling so…warm. It was difficult to explain, but Chanyeol was soft for Jongin.

  
Something touching his arms lightly had Chanyeol opening his eyes. He looked down to see that Jongin had lifted the cloth sleeve of his shirt and was tracing the colorful sleeve on his right arm. “What is this hyung?” Jongin asked, admiring the flash of contrast between Chanyeol’s skin and the colorful array of ink on his skin.

  
“Kitten, have you never seen a tattoo before?” Chanyeol asked, watching as Jongin followed a long line mimicking the flow of water at the base of his forearm.

  
“Is that what this painting is? A tattoo?” Jongin asked, tilting his head back to meet Chanyeol’s eyes from an upside down angle. He blinked his brown eyes in confusion, never really hearing of tattoos before but knowing that they looked intimidating on Chanyeol earlier.

  
Chanyeol laughed and Jongin found the rumble of his chest against his back comforting, it was like a purr. “These aren’t paintings Kitten. They’re made out of ink and they stay on my skin, tattoos are permanent.”

  
Jongin gave a hum as an answer, glancing back down to trace the lines of Chanyeol’s tattoos. “Then what is this tattoo? It looks like a big lizard.”

  
Chanyeol gasped as if he were injured and when a startled Jongin met his eyes, he play growled. “This is not a big lizard you brat! It’s a dragon, with a fierce face and _menacing_ fangs!” he then roared and held Jongin in one arm, the other attacking his sides and tickling the kitten until his face turned red from laughing so hard.

  
Eventually, Chanyeol let Jongin escape to take refuge behind the couch. Jongin peeked at him from the top of the couch, his ears high atop his head, his brown hair slightly scruffy from air drying. Chanyeol smiled at him before he went to the kitchen and dug through the fridge. He didn’t have a lot he could make at the moment since his last trip to the grocery store had been quite a while ago, but he did have enough ingredients to make a quick dinner.

  
Jongin had watched him from the couch, interested in the savory smell emanating from the kitchen. Eventually he had gotten up and made his way to the kitchen counter, leaning over the island and sniffing the air in front of him. “Hyung is the food done yet?” Jongin asked, huffing and flopping against the countertop when Chanyeol shook his head. “Then tell the food to _hurry_ and cook!”

  
His grumble caused a surprised laugh to escape Chanyeol. Jongin was precious.

 

  
ⓒ♡ⓙ

 

  
Waking up was probably one of Chanyeol’s least favorite things to do, but when his eyes opened he was surprised to see a feather floating from the ceiling. The fluffy down slowly drifted in the air until it landed on his nose and the ticklish sensation had Chanyeol sneezing. The simple act made his eyes water and he rubbed at them as he sat up in bed.

  
With a yawn, he glanced over at his bedside table to check his alarm clock, but he froze before he could do so.

  
Hundreds of little feathers were scattered all over his bed, some falling on the floor and some still floating in the air. “What the hell?” Chanyeol mumbled in disbelief, rubbing his eyes again and pinching himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. As soon as he opened his eyes, the feathers seemed to glare back at him and Chanyeol groaned, wondering how he was going to clean everything up when he had to be at work soon.

  
A soft little sneeze reached Chanyeol’s ears and the human blinked before he looked around his room. A tail was poking out from under his bed, the tip a telling brown and the rest of it pristine white. More feathers were scattered around the floor next to the obvious tail and Chanyeol sighed.

  
“Jongin.”

  
The tail stopped twitching and Chanyeol felt more than saw the kitty stiffen under the bed. “I can see your tail Kitten.” As soon as he pointed it out, he heard a squeak before the mismatched tail disappeared under the bed. All the mild annoyance Chanyeol felt disappeared at the simple action and Chanyeol had to fight off a smile as he stood up and crouched until he was level with the floor.

  
Brown eyes peered back at him and Chanyeol gave Jongin a teasing grin. “You’re really bad at hiding Kitten.”

  
Jongin pouted at him, “The fluffy things attacked, so I used my claws.”

  
Chanyeol sat back up and stared at the feathered mess on his bed. “Kitten, did you not sleep in your room last night?” He asked. He remembered tucking Jongin in bed after feeding him. He then went to his own room and proceeded to fall asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

  
Jongin’s head peeked out from under the bed and he blinked up at Chanyeol. “Hyung, the room got really cold, so I came in here.” Chanyeol scratched his head and wondered when the hell that happened. Then again he was a heavy sleeper, as far as he knew the world could have ended and been taken over by dinosaurs and he would have slept through it all. When he was back at home, it was a hassle for his parents to wake him up in time for school.

  
“I’m sorry, I forgot to give you an extra blanket.” Chanyeol finally said, running his fingers through Jongin’s hair and smiling when the kitten tilted his head, wanting the human to scratch behind his ears.

  
“S’okay hyung, you’re warm enough for me.” Jongin slurred, looking sleepy and comfortable under the bed. He must have spent all his energy running after the feathers that used to stuff Chanyeol’s pillows. Still, the floor was hardwood and really bad for someone’s back, so Chanyeol helped picked up Jongin carefully and almost put him on his bed, but Chanyeol realized that it was covered in feathers, so he walked down the hallway with the kitten in his arms.

  
The kitty seemed content with this arrangement; apparently walking was too much energy for him in his semi-awake state. Jongin yawned and Chanyeol felt his heart warm at the way the kitty rubbed his eyes and curled against his chest, looking effortlessly adorable with his white ears and brown hair.

  
“Hyung, will you be here when I wake up again?” Jongin asked once Chanyeol had placed him on the bed. The human paused what he was doing in favor of sitting at Jongin’s side.

  
“Kitten, I have to go to work-” a hand shot out from under the thick blankets and wrapped around his wrist while worried brown eyes met his own. Jongin looked ready to cry so Chanyeol hurried to soothe him. “I-I work, but I _will_ be back! This is your home too now, and since I live here I have to come back. B-but that that’s not what— I mean I l-like you Jongin. You’re sweet _and_ wonderful, and I want to spend time with you and get to know you better. I want to be close to you, so I won’t _ever_ leave you behind.” He then shifted his wrist until Jongin was holding his had rather than grabbing him.

  
Jongin ducked his head and hid his face in the blue duck patterned blankets Chanyeol had given him. He mumbled something back and Chanyeol almost cooed at how cute he looked as a little lump on the bed, kitty ears sticking up from the blankets and hand holding onto his own.

  
“I couldn’t hear you Kitten, can you repeat that?” Chanyeol asked, not able to hide the amusement in his tone when Jongin resurfaced from the blanket and halfheartedly glared at him.

  
“I’m not a kitten!” He protested, looking flushed and embarrassed. “A-and I said I w-want to be close to you _too_. And I w-won’t leave you behind either, I like you too much hyung.”

  
The admission was said so softly and Jongin’s eyes were so tender and earnest as he spoke that Chanyeol could feel his face heat up. He didn’t have anything to say to that, so he ended up squeezing Jongin’s hand and pressing a kiss to his forehead. As usual, the kitten stiffened at the contact before he sighed and appeared to melt into the bed.

  
Chanyeol ended up holding his hand and stroking his ears until he fell asleep and when he finally left Jongin’s room and shut the door behind himself, he was awash with horror at the bright light filtering through his flat windows. “ _Shit_ ,” He cursed under his breath just as he began scrambling to get ready for work.

  
His bathroom was still a mess after Jongin had gotten his bath, and his bedroom was in a similar state of disarray. Chanyeol ignored it for the moment merely tried not to trip over anything as he attempted to fix his hair, brush his teeth, and put on some pants at the same time. He was half successful by the end of it, though he didn’t notice that h forgot to comb his flame red hair until he was out of his flat and halfway down the street.

  
Once he got to the shop, he was disheveled and as soon as he laid eyes on him, boss or not, Baekhyun burst into laughter.

  
“What happened to you? Finally lose your virginity?” Baekhyun’s laugh was comparable to a hyena.

  
“I’m not a _virgin_!” Chanyeol hissed, flushing in embarrassment when Baekhyun rolled his eyes. The other tattoo artists who worked with him were beginning to arrive, most of them piled into one beat up little car that parallel parked like an old lady. Jongdae must have been driving.

  
“Byun, I swear you’re more trouble than you’re supposedly worth.” Chanyeol growled, turning away from his annoying friend, the same one who looked like he was out of place in his shop with his flaxen blonde hair, smoky eyeshadow, and perfectly pressed shirts.

  
Baekhyun popped his gum and Chanyeol wondered how many pieces he ate in a day. “I’m worth more than this little shop. My bleeding heart is the only thing keeping me here.” He said, examining his nails while Chanyeol scoffed and began opening the shop’s back doors.

  
“Right, like you wouldn’t be here if tall, tattooed and motorcycle riding men didn’t stop by on a daily basis.”

  
Baekhyun smirked just as Jongdae popped up at his side. “Hey, they’re the best kind of bad. They know how to be _rough_.”

  
“Speaking of rough, What happened to you?” Jongdae asked, slinging an arm around Baekhyun and joining in on the conversation. His feline smile was already on his lips, and if it weren’t for the natural upward angelic tilt of his eyebrows, he would have looked more like the giant problem he is. As it were, he just drew first time tattoo virgins to him like a moth to a flame, especially since he only wore the occasional leather jacket with his parted black hair. He might have looked innocent because his tattoo were hidden, but Chanyeol had the misfortune of knowing the man had some rather…explicit body piercings along with the tastes to match.

  
“If the three of you don’t shut the hell up so I can sit down inside, I will _cut_ you all.” Do Kyungsoo, the petite and annoyed 95% of the time tattoo artist Chanyeol first hired, growled darkly behind them all. His pale skin was offset by military cropped black hair and stark black clothing. He looked like the most dangerous one of them all, and most would agree that his face rivaled Chanyeol’s in the piercings department with his twin snake bites and various bars framing his eyebrows, ears, and nose. “I had a shit ton of whiskey last night and if I don’t get coffee soon, I swear I will burn you all alive.” Kyungsoo muttered to himself.

  
Believe it or not, this was the man most trusted with the delicate detail work of tattooing portraits. He once tattooed the picture of a man’s baby girl over his chest; Chanyeol had never seen such a grizzled man bawl his eyes out until then.

  
The door to the shop swung open and Baekhyun pushed past Chanyeol with a muttered curse under his breath. Kyungsoo was next, followed by a smiling Jongdae. Chanyeol followed them inside, but he shot one last glance out at the parking lot and wondered if his last two employees would show up late again.

  
“Hey giant, Baekhyun double booked _again_.” Jongdae shouted out, looking mildly annoyed despite his earlier energy. “Are you gonna step up or should we give them a call and tell them to reschedule?”

  
Chanyeol walked over to the front counter, taking the chance to smack Baekhyun on the back of the head along the way, the secretary squawked and rubbed his fake wound while shooting Chanyeol an accusing look.

  
The **Inky Spiral Tattoo Shop** was a little known favorite among locals and veteran tattoo enthusiasts. The outside was made of brick, a sign written in Chanyeol’s calligraphy was lit in red neon above the door, and the inside was neat and well lit. A little desk with a glass display holding various body piercings for sale was parallel to the front of the shop doors. Four tattoo stations complete with tall mirrors filled in the shop and colorful painted canvases lined the walls, displaying the unique style and designs of every artist working.

  
Of course, the place was small and that came with downsides, one of which was having one computer for the entire shop. The thing was practically a dinosaur from the eighties and Baekhyun was always nagging at him to get a new one.

  
When Chanyeol finally managed to stare at the black and green screen, he sighed. “We can’t just let Shin Ae down. She’s bringing her sister in for her first tattoo on her birthday.”

  
Jongdae nodded and then he pointed at the screen, squinting a little to see it better. “Yeah, but that rising star, Lin or something is scheduled to show up that day as well. His fans _will_ kill us and _then_ give us bad press for making such a big shot wait.”

  
Chanyeol flicked Jongdae in the forehead. “His name is Lay, get it right before his fans flood our shop, looking for blood.” Jongdae grumbled some more, but he did make a mental note to get more acquainted with the Chinese language.

  
The bells atop the shop door rang and the door was pushed open by a frazzled looking Yifan. His usually tall and proud form was hunched over and he looked green in the face as he leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his sweaty dark hair. When he realized everyone was staring at him, he managed to look done with life and scared at the same time.

  
“I am never letting the brat drive again.” He said just as Sehun sauntered into the room, looking immensely pleased with himself. Sehun was an apprentice who had applied and was accepted into the shop six months ago. He didn’t have a real mentor yet, but everyone practically took him under his wing and showed him their style of tattoos, he had yet to take on a client though he bugged Chanyeol about it every day.

  
“Shut it old man, you haven’t seen fast yet.” Sehun replied, passing Yifan and patting him on the head condescendingly. The older tattooist growled and swiped at the maknae.

  
“Well,” Chanyeol said with a clap before he pointed at Kyungsoo. “The kid will now be monitored by the muscle from now on.”

  
Baekhyun laughed at the sulky look on Sehun’s face at being called a kid while Kyungsoo looked horrified at the prospect of baby-sitting.

  
Yifan just looked relieved and he appeared to be recovered from his near death experience letting Sehun drive because he shuffled to his tattoo area. Above his work station was a traditional red ink dragon, looking almost a fierce as Yifan himself. He was the third person after Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to be hired by Chanyeol. The main deciding factor for Chanyeol was the fact that not many people did tattoos like Yifan, who didn’t use a tattoo gun and instead relied on some type of bamboo needle hybrid spear.

  
It was always interesting to see him work, his precision and speed was admirable and Chanyeol wondered how the second scariest man in the shop was somehow the one who was the gentlest. He usually got the clients who didn’t know what they wanted in a tattoo, and his apparent skill in avoiding sensitive spots while still making body art was masterful in a way.

  
“Hey hyung, when can I get my _own_ client?” Sehun asked, popping up in front of Chanyeol and scaring the man out of his thoughts. Sehun chuckled at his reaction and with his recently bleached hair, he looked deceptively like an angel.

  
Chanyeol slowly relaxed, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment and irritation. “Oh Sehun, learn how to walk like a normal person! For someone so loud, you should have footsteps that sound like thunderclaps.”

  
Sehun frowned and with his naturally downturned eyebrows, he looked a lot like his older cousin, Yifan. “Are you saying that I’m fat?”

  
A customer walked into the door and saved Chanyeol from saying something potentially dangerous. Unfortunately it looked like some runaway flower boy stole his dad’s work suit and walked in. Baekhyun lazily raised a hand in greeting, too busy leaning back in his chair and flipping through a magazine, apparently too lazy to do his job as a secretary/receptionist.

  
“Hello, what can I do for you?” Chanyeol asked politely, taking an out when he saw one. He just hoped that the man was no stranger to the pain a tattoo could bring.

  
The man walked straight up to him and the look in his eyes was frantic. “I need a tattoo that will _not_ get me propositions from _guys_.”

  
A pin falling to the floor could be heard in the shop with how quiet it was.

  
Sehun of course, was the first to speak with a smirk adorning his lips. “ _I_ have a proposition for you Luhan ge!”

 

  
ⓒ♡ⓙ

 

  
After their first day, Chanyeol was pleasantly surprised to come back home to an excited kitten, and he was all the more thankful when he realized said kitten had tried to clean. Of course, he did miss a few spots so Chanyeol and Jongin had spent the rest of the week cleaning feathers from their hair.

  
From then on, they had fallen into a sort of routine. Chanyeol would come home from long shifts at his shop only to collapse on the couch in exhaustion. Jongin would usually greet him with a smile and a hug before then, and then he’d demand food, because apparently aside from having an endless stash of candy on him, Jongin also liked the way the man fried chicken. But sometimes Chanyeol finished sketches at the dining table, with a curious hybrid melting into his side and watching as he brought his drawing skills to life.

  
This brings them to the present moment, with a tired and attentive Chanyeol patiently explaining the sketch he was struggling to come up with for a particular client. It was usually easy to tattoo someone who knew exactly what they wanted, but Luhan came in earlier again and demanded something fierce and so manly that he would never be mistaken for a girl again. It wasn’t hard to guess that he had probably gotten another love declaration at work. And while sympathetic (not really, Luhan was related to Sehun as well and they _both_ could be shits when they wanted to be) Chanyeol didn’t know whether to be insulted or flattered that the man considered one of his tattoos gender identifying.

  
Soft humming reached his ears and Chanyeol didn’t have to look to his side to know that Jongin was chewing on his bottom lip. “Hyung, can I look at your book?” Jongin asked and this time, Chanyeol stopped doodling a mustache on a discarded portrait of someone’s mom in boredom.

  
“My books?” Chanyeol repeated, taking the chance to scratch his head as he glanced at the old wooden shelf in the living room. “Yeah, you can do anything you want, what’s mine is yours, Kitten.”

  
Jongin huffed and Chanyeol felt his fluffy tail slap the side of his thigh. It didn’t hurt at all, instead the admonishing act made him smile.

  
“Stop calling me Kitten!” Jongin huffed, narrowing his eyes at the amusement on Chanyeol’s face before he turned back to look at the table. “I meant this book,” The cat touched the edge of Chanyeol’s sketchbook, the cardstock cover not doing much to protect the frayed edges of the paper within.

  
“Oh,” Chanyeol answered brilliantly. Before his party hard days in college, Chanyeol had been kind of an angsty teen who found a strange sense of vulnerability in having other people poke through his sketchbook and judge his art, his work, and ultimately his feelings.

  
However, one year of college with an annoying Baekhyun always stealing his book and flipping through it without permission had somewhat cured him of that. So with a decisive smile, Chanyeol passed the book to Jongin’s waiting hands. “Go ahead, Kitten. What’s mine is yours.”

  
Jongin eagerly took the book from his hands, the sparkle of excitement in his eyes comparable to the stars in the sky outside. But before the kitten began flipping through the pages, he held the book in his hands, testing the weight of it before he looked up at Chanyeol with a grateful smile. “Thank you hyung,” He said, completely catching Chanyeol off guard.

  
Feeling the pressure of his eyes on him, Chanyeol coughed awkwardly and tried to hide his blush, instead choosing to look away from Jongin’s pretty eyes and genuine smile. “Uhmm, its nothing to thank me for…” He trailed off when he realized Jongin was already studying his sketches.

  
Chanyeol had bought the sketchbook a few months ago and he was too lazy to get a new one just yet. On the first page was the three month old inked outline of a lotus flower. The petals were filled in with pale pink ink, only it was drawn in a splattered arc, giving the flower a modernized and unique look.

  
“This is pretty hyung!” Jongin squealed and Chanyeol resisted the urge to puff out his chest with pride.

  
“Did you draw this on someone?” The cat asked, tilting his head to the side to view the flower from a different angle. The simple movement made his ears tilt as well and a lock of fine silk-spun chestnut colored hair fall into his eyes.

  
“This was supposed to be for some rebellious chaebol. But by the time I had finished the sketch, she’d changed her mind and decided she didn’t want to be anywhere near a needle.”

  
At the word needle, Jongin’s head whipped up and wide frightened eyes met the tattoo artist’s own grey orbs. “N-needle!? I thought you used a marker!”

  
Chanyeol merely blinked at Jongin’s horrified face before he burst out into loud, raucous laughter. Jongin looked confused for a moment, but as Chanyeol continued to laugh harder and harder as time wore on, he frowned and if it weren’t for the book he was holding in his hands he would have crossed his arms as well.

  
“Why are you laughing hyung?” Now as fierce as Jongin seemed to think his glowers were, all Chanyeol saw was a pair of pouty lips and downturned eyebrows.

  
“N-nothing.” Chanyeol answered, finally calming down a little. His cheeks and abdomen were aching from the laughing fit and Chanyeol wondered why his chest felt so light and yet warm, he must have been stressed earlier.

  
“I don’t believe you,” Jongin replied, unsatisfied with Chanyeol’s answer. “Tell me why you were laughing!” His demand was met with an amused quirk of Chanyeol’s lips.

  
“Kitten, do you know how tattoos are really made?” He asked and when Jongin shook his head, he nodded to himself. “I thought so.”

  
Annoyed at Chanyeol’s knowing tone and smug grin, he flicked his brown and white tail back in forth in agitation behind his back. “Well tell me hyung, I want to know!” His whine earned him a head ruffle between his white ears and Jongin tolerated it only because he wanted an explanation from Chanyeol.

  
Deciding to stop teasing the kitten, Chanyeol began reciting what his own mentor told him. “Tattoos are scars. We use tattoo guns now, but needles are the basis of making the ink permanent. An artist will dab a needle in ink and every prick on a person’s skin is made into a small wound that retains the ink like a well and when it heals, the mark stays.” He stopped for a moment and ran a hand through his red hair in a sheepish gesture. Jongin was hanging onto his every word, but the tattooed man had no way of knowing if he understood it all.

  
“So…You hurt people with a needle and those marks stay on their skin?” Jongin asked and Chanyeol resisted the urge to sigh.

  
“No, I don’t hurt them Jongin, I just poke a pattern into their skin with a needle and ink.”

  
Jongin’s eyes were still wide with apprehension as he stared up at Chanyeol from under a black fan of thick lashes. “But, _needles_ hyung.”

 

  
ⓒ♡ⓙ

 

  
The next morning, a blessed and long awaited Saturday, found Chanyeol at home in bed, He was in the half awake state where his mind _knew_ he wanted more sleep, but his body was energized. Neither the sunlight streaming in his room, nor the heat at his side helped him at all. Maybe it was a hybrid thing, but Chanyeol wouldn’t exactly have experience to draw from, so the human found himself with a heated fluffy ball of fur attached to his side every night.

  
Jongin, said ball of fluffy heat, was curled up on his chest, his arms and legs curved around Chanyeol’s sides and keeping him in place. Now Chanyeol knew that he was leagues stronger than Jongin and that he could easily pry the kitty off if he really wanted to, however the last time he tried to shift away from Jongin the kitten had only clung to him tightly. With his claws.

  
Now, Chanyeol liked to believe he was a man able to learn from his mistakes, so it was with a newly practiced ease that Chanyeol brought his hands up and lightly grasped onto the base of Jongin’s neck. Immediately the kitten tensed, then relaxed, his entire body becoming limp and entirely docile. Satisfied that he could now pull off this move without waking Jongin up or getting scratched, Chanyeol slowly sat up and held the kitten in his lap before he gently laid him on the empty space of the bed.

  
When he let go, Jongin rolled over and his fluffy tail curled up over his shoulders, acting as a sort of makeshift blanket that Jongin buried his face in. The sight was adorable and Chanyeol cooed, then because he couldn’t resist, he stroked the kitten on the head, delighting in the sleepy purr he received in return. Deciding to leave the kitten alone to catch up on sleep, Chanyeol got up and stretched, a yawn escaping his mouth before he glance at the clock.

  
**8:00 A.M**.

  
‘ _Why is it so early!?_ ’ Chanyeol lamented in his head, sighing and wondering when he began waking and sleeping at the same hours as an old geezer. A soft grumble reached his ears and Chanyeol held his stomach in surprise. Looked like it was time to cook breakfast.

  
Since Chanyeol was what anyone would consider an adult now, especially at his age ( ~~late~~ twenties), he was able to provide a stable home for himself. As a result of his college days, when he was broke as hell and staring at everyone in the cafeteria like a starved animal, Chanyeol promised to himself that he would have the most stocked, best applied, and biggest kitchen in the world.

  
Obviously he was only able to keep half his promise to himself, because at the moment his kitchen was dirty. There were dishes piled in the kitchen, dirt on the floor, and crumbs all over the marble counter and antique wood table top. Admittedly the crumbs were probably from Jongin, who tended to be a messy eater. However, the rest of it was all due to negligence and pure sloth on Chanyeol’s part. He hated washing dishes and he always put it off to the next day, until he ended up with a tower that he almost killed himself cleaning every weekend.

  
With a grimace, Chanyeol turned on his heel and immediately marched to the bathroom to take a shower. Later he would wake up Jongin and take him out to this great diner he used to frequent.

 

  
ⓒ♡ⓙ

 

  
“Hyung, where are we going?” Jongin asked and before Chanyeol could open his mouth to answer, he was asking another question. “Why is the sun out _so_ _early_!? Why are there so many people around? How come I had to get up, why are your clothes so big? _Why did you wake me up_? Who invented dogs!? They’re annoying _and_ smelly. _Whydidyouwakemeup_?”

  
When Chanyeol first woke up Jongin, his grumpiness was cute because he was still soft and sleepy, but after scrubbing the kitten’s face, dressing him in some of his old college clothes, and then leading him out into the morning world, Jongin became less and less happy by the moment.

  
“Kitten, I’ve told you that we’re going to eat. Don’t you want something delicious for breakfast?” Chanyeol asked, taking the hybrid’s hand in his and leading him to the inner side of the sidewalk, away from the curb because it looked like it rained the night before and he didn’t want him getting splashed with water.

  
Jongin scrubbed his eyes with his free hand while his other gripped Chanyeol’s much larger hand, the human’s palms were warm and a bit rougher than his own soft skin, but he liked the contrast of their hands. “Hyung, I’m not hungry, I’m tired.” Jongin whined, squinting when a beam of sunlight bounced off a nearby shop window and hit him right in the eyes. It was a known fact that Jongin _hated_ mornings.

  
Chanyeol chuckled and Jongin frowned as he glanced up at the human. The early morning must have messed up his head if he was so happy and energetic.

  
“I never realized that I would ever live to see the day _little kitty_ _Jonginnie_ would say he wasn’t hungry.” Chanyeol said, an amused tilt to his lips.

  
Jongin flushed and immediately smacked Chanyeol with his tail. “Quiet! You’re the one who always feeds me!” He huffed and when Chanyeol still didn’t wipe the smirk off his face, he narrowed his eyes and play growled at him. “And besides, I’m too nice to refuse an old man.”

  
Faking offense, Chanyeol gasped and clutched his chest. “Old man? Kitten, you wound me so!”

  
A few passing pedestrians sent Chanyeol curious looks, their eyes catching on Jongin before they went back to minding their own business. Jongin flushed indignantly and he smacked Chanyeol with his hand this time, though maybe attacking his bicep was the wrong move, his hand stung. Instead of looking cowed, the human laughed and began pinching the kitty’s cheeks together, cooing over how cute his red cheeks and pouted lips were, his glowers were seriously adorable.

  
After smacking Chanyeol away, Jongin buried himself in the human’s borrowed baggy hoodie, only emerging when Chanyeol managed to lead them to the diner that he had planned to arrive at ten minutes ago.

  
“What does the sign say?” Jongin asked once they stood in front of some old restaurant, the outside was unimpressive and he was left with the impression that the inside wouldn’t get any better.

  
Chanyeol squinted up at the old weathered sign above the diner and he shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t think even the _owner_ remembers.”

  
With a skeptical expression and cautious steps, Jongin followed Chanyeol into the diner, his hands holding onto the back of Chanyeol’s cotton t-shirt. The bell rung inside the diner when the duo made their way inside and Chanyeol resisted the urge to turn around and hug Jongin when he felt the kitten flinch and further hide behind his back.

  
The inside of the diner was of a typical American 1950’s style, with chrome paneling behind the counter, red and white baseboards interrupted the uniformity along with white paint and the occasional faded poster of a classic movie or a super blonde pin up girl. Cracked red leather booths lined the windowed walls and the table tops matched the spotted eggshell colored linoleum of the floor. All in all, it looked like a shabby piece of time and Chanyeol wouldn’t be surprised if someone told him that the restaurant hadn’t seen an interior designer since the fifties.

  
“Hyung, are you _sure_ the food here is delicious?” Jongin whispered from behind his back. He sounded genuinely worried and that was enough to have Chanyeol grab onto the kitten’s hand, squeezing it slightly to comfort him.

  
Soon enough a waitress who looked like a carbon copy of _Rosie the Riveter_ popped up, a cheery smile on her face. “Good morning! Would you like a table for two or a booth?” She asked, her eyes brightening a little at the sight of Jongin hanging onto Chanyeol and staring at her with wide eyes, his tail and ears flattened to his body in fear. He didn’t trust anyone who was so energized in the morning. Aside from Chanyeol, of course.

  
Resisting the urge to whine when Jongin forgot about the claws he had digging into his arm again, Chanyeol mumbled out an answer and followed their waitress to a booth placed next to a window. The sidewalk was right outside and a few people rushed by on foot, but most were in cars that zoomed by the scruffy diner without a second glance.

  
As soon as Chanyeol managed to squeeze his long limbs into the booth, Jongin scooted next to him, practically burying himself in Chanyeol’s side. The waitress chuckled at the sight as she handed them both menus. “He’s a cutie, where’d you get him?”

  
Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck and wondered how he should answer that. Surely Jongin didn’t want her to know that Chanyeol had picked him up after his last owner abandoned him right? And lying… well it always left Chanyeol feeling awkward and usually his ears would give him away anyway because they turned red when he was flustered. “Uhmm, I-”

  
“Ahjumma! Please bring me some orange juice,” Jongin interrupted, almost startling the waitress, whose nametag ironically read Rosie.

  
“Uh, sure hon,” She replied and she took Chanyeol’s drink order before she left, muttering under her breath something that sounded suspiciously like “ _What’s an ah-jamma?”_

  
Huffing to himself, Jongin finally relaxed enough to unhook his claws from Chanyeol’s arm. “She’s scary.” Jongin muttered, his ears tilting down a little even though his curious eyes roamed the interior of the diner, his gaze lingering on the desserts placed under a crystal dome at the front counter.

  
Chanyeol pet Jongin in between his ears, once again admiring the softness and the gentle contrast between his white ears and brown hair. “And why exactly is that Kitten?”

  
Jongin melted into Chanyeol’s gentle petting, but he fell silent for a while and when he spoke again his voice was really small and sad. “She has red lips.”

  
Sensing that his vague answer was a sensitive topic to the kitten, Chanyeol threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him to his side. Jongin tensed a bit, but he relaxed again and leaned his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder. It seemed his aversion to touch was a come and go thing, most likely due to Chanyeol’s unconscious lack of personal space. Once again a habit picked up from the annoying barnacle disguised as Byun Baekhyun.

  
“Let’s order enough food to last us through hibernation,” Chanyeol hummed happily, opening the menu and trying to discreetly use food as a distraction to Jongin’s sudden sadness.

  
One white kitty ear twitched and Chanyeol fought the urge to sneeze when it brushed his nose. “Are you _sure_ the food is good hyung?” Jongin asked again, though his eyes were glued to the surprisingly high quality pictures printed on the plastic menu Chanyeol was holding up.

  
Smiling smugly, Chanyeol gently tugged on Jongin’s ear. “Why don’t you order the Happy Pancakes and find out kitten?” His teasing was met with a swat from Jongin’s tail.

  
“I’m not a kitten!” Came a familiar protest, but when the waitress came back and Jongin stuttered over Chanyeol’s childish suggestion, the human had to cover his laugh with a discreet cough. Based on the glare Jongin sent his way, it wasn’t exactly a success.

  
However, all was forgiven when the food arrive, Jongin was practically bouncing in his seat when he caught sight of the slightly steamy stack of thick and fluffy pancakes. The wide plate was placed before the hyper hybrid and a huge grin appeared on Jongin’s face, his eyes crinkling at the corners and his tiny canine’s catching the sunlight streaming in through the windows. “Hyung, hyung, _hyung look_! It’s a smiley face!” He exclaimed slapping Chanyeol’s arm to get his attention. With a chuckle, Chanyeol ruffled Jongin’s hair, the kitten forgetting to scold him for messing up his hair in his enthusiasm for food.

  
“I see it Kitten,” Chanyeol said, unable to hide a grin at the sight of Jongin getting so happy over a stack of pancakes with a bacon smile, a strawberry nose, blueberry eyes, and whip cream eyebrows.

  
Rosie chuckled and Chanyeol agreed with her when she called Jongin cute again.

 

  
ⓒ♡ⓙ

 

  
Bringing Jongin to his work place may have been a bad decision. The kitten was frightened by the tattoo guns and while he wasn’t cowering in the corner, he was clinging onto Chanyeol and his claws were digging into his bicep painfully every time a customer winced in pain. It also didn’t help that Baekhyun, his useless secretary, was trying to reach behind Chanyeol to reach Jongin, his loud voice making the kitten flinch and dig his claws even deeper into Chanyeol’s arm.

  
Wincing, Chanyeol almost expected blood to start dripping down his arm, but nothing more than fading marks met his sight as he gently grabbed Jongin’s wrist and pried his clawed fingers off his arm.

  
“Byun, stop being so loud, you’re scaring him,” Chanyeol ordered, his voice sounding more like an annoyed huff.

  
Baekhyun merely faux pouted up at Chanyeol. “You were talking about me behind my back weren’t you Park?”

  
Jongin’s claws retracted and Chanyeol breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. The cat was still tensed though, and without even really thinking about it, Chanyeol pulled him closer and Jongin curled up in his lap, his tail winding around the human’s wrist to keep a long arm wrapped around his waist.

  
Baekhyun raised a brow at their closeness, but seeing the kitten curled up on Chanyeol and looking comfortable, he chose to bring up another topic. “So when did you decide to get a hybrid? I thought you were vowing to become that one old guy on the block with enough dogs to rival the cat lady.”

  
Scowling, Chanyeol kicked out with a long leg at Baekhyun, if the glorified secretary hadn’t moved he was sure that he’d have at least caught him in the ankle.

  
Jongdae barked out a laugh in the back, sounding like something prehistoric and irritating. Sehun snickered, as did his babysitter Kyungsoo. Chanyeol scowled at all of them and held onto Jongin tighter. “You guys do know that I am your _boss_ , right?”

  
“And you know you act like a _kid_ , right?” Kris lifted an eyebrow, sparing Chanyeol a glance before he went back to poking his client with his weird tattoo spear.

  
This time Kyungsoo chuckled and his wide, endearing smile made an appearance. It was almost as rare to see Kyungsoo with a smile as it was to see the sun out while it was raining.

  
“Owl hyung!” Jongin said, looking at Kyungsoo with a smile.

  
Kyungsoo immediately froze, Chanyeol didn’t know whether it was because Jongin dared to compare him to a bird or if it was because he noticed the hybrid was deadly when he smiled. It was probably a mix of both because instead of threatening to kill Jongin (like Chanyeol would let him), Kyungsoo blushed up to his ears and then tried to hide it with a flustered scowl.

  
“W-watch your mouth, kid.” Kyungsoo settled for saying, quickly going back to what he was doing Unfortunately Sehun wouldn’t let him live it down, and he stopped pressing the ink outlined trace paper against a client’s upper arm.

  
“Hyung! Why does he get away with calling you an owl when you hit me for giving you a _compliment_!?” Sehun whined, forgetting the fact that his compliment centered around Kyungsoo’s ass in skinny jeans. Chanyeol resisted the urge to laugh when Kyungsoo threatened him with the pen he was using to freehand the calligraphy the client wanted under his arm tattoo.

  
Jongin watched Kyungsoo and Sehun bicker for a while before his attention was drawn to Jongdae, who was smiling at something Baekhyun said. Following his lien of sight, Chanyeol squinted at Jongdae and wondered why the hell—

  
Oh, Jongdae was holding onto a candy bar, taking a bite between jokes and laughs.

  
“Kitten, are you hungry?” Chanyeol asked, startling the kitty a little and if it weren’t’ for his arms holding him close by the waist, Jongin would have fallen to the floor.

  
Once he was settled down, Jongin shyly nodded his head, ears flattening a little on the top of his head. “Sorry hyung, I should have listened and ate with you this morning.” He muttered, though when his stomach grumbled he blushed and hid his face in Chanyeol’s neck.

  
Chanyeol laughed and pet Jongin’s white ear, “It’s fine kitten, we can just have an early lunch together.”

  
Baekhyun immediately perked up, “Lunch is on Park today!” He shouted, earning loud cheers from the various tattoo artists in the shop. Chanyeol sent Baekhyun a glare, but his attention was caught by Jongdae.

  
“Hey boss, what about our dear customers? They can’t leave the shop until their tattoos are finished.” Jongdae asked and based on the meaningful look he sent his partner in crime, Baekhyun, Chanyeol knew his wallet was going to scream at him after this.

  
“Let’s order from Mr. Lee, his place has the best Peking duck!” At Baekhyun’s suggestion, everyone cheered louder, and the two clients being tattooed cheered as well, nearly jostling their artist’s needle armed hands with the movement.

  
Jongin didn’t know who Mr. Lee was or why everyone was cheering, but he followed along with everyone else and added his own hoots of happiness. Food was a good enough reason to celebrate.

  
Now that Kyungsoo was tattooing over the lines Sehun had transferred onto the client’s arm, the maknae drifted over Baekhyun’s ill-used desk. The man basically ran a gossip ring around his desk and Chanyeol wondered once again why he decided to hire the man. Together with Jongdae and Baekhyun, Sehun had managed to order the most expensive things from Mr. Lee’s restaurant, making sure to order enough food to feed an army while he was at it.

  
Jongin eventually relaxed enough around everyone to slip out of Chanyeol’s hold. He was immediately taken in by the three worst trouble makers of the group, and Chanyeol watched as Jongin was held by Sehun and pet by Jongdae and Baekhyun.

  
“ _Aaahh_ , h-hyung stop! I-it’s too much!”

  
“Shh, be a good Kitty Jonginnie and _take_ it.”

  
“Yeah, good kitties who listen to hyung get _special_ rewards.”

  
Despite watching and knowing that Baekhyun was merely tugging on Jongin’s tail, Chanyeol couldn’t help but squirm a little in his seat at how suggestive Jongin looked. There was a slightly embarrassed expression on his face, though Chanyeol knew that if he really didn’t like being pet and shown affection, then he would be scratching and hissing. Sehun seemed to think so as well and he smirked at Baekhyun, his eyes on Jongin’s red cheeks and bitten lips. “Oh he’s blushing so much, I wonder how far it goes?” Chanyeol wanted to know just as much as Sehun, possibly even more, but Jongdae was already moving in, his signature upturned lips looking suspiciously like a leer.

  
“I don’t know Sehun, why don’t we check?” Jongin squeaked when Baekhyun rubbed the fur of his brown and white tail while Jongdae gently pinched the tip of one of his white kitty ears. Tiny tears sprang into Jongin’s eyes from the sting, but his blush became more prominent and visibly moved down his slim neck. The imagery proved to be too much for Chanyeol, who shot out of his chair and separated Jongin from his untrustworthy employees with a shout.

  
“Enough! Keep away, perverts!” Jongin still looked debauched and with him clinging to Chanyeol’s front now, he looked even more small and vulnerable.

  
Baekhyun whined at the loss of his entertainment. “C’mon Park! We were just playing!”

  
“Yeah!” Jongdae added, “We’ve never seen such a cute kitty up close. We just wanted to get to know him better.” The tattoo artist then pouted and had the gall to use his naturally upturned eyebrows to send scolded puppy eyes to Jongin. Chanyeol cold feel Jongin crumbling before the faux nice act. Kim Jongdae was anything except _nice_.

  
“Jonginnie, how old are you?” Sehun suddenly asked, breaking the silent stare down between Chanyeol and Jongdae.

  
Jongin hesitated a bit, but he uncurled from Chanyeol long enough to answer Sehun. “I’m seven!”

  
“What!?” Baekhyun and Jongdae shouted, looking shocked. Kyungsoo’s eyes couldn’t get wider and even Yifan had paused what he was doing to send Jongin an incredulous look.

  
Sehun huffed out a laugh. “Calm down idiots, he’s twenty one in human years.”

  
Baekhyun and Jongdae calmed down some, but they looked skeptical “How do you know brat?”

  
“First of all,” Sehun said, crossing his arms and glaring down Baekhyun. “I am _not_ a kid, nor a brat, nor anyone’s baby.”

  
Yifan snorted in the back, “That’s not what you say when you want something expensive from aunty.”

  
Sehun shrugged, “Technically you’re supposed to look after me, with one call aunty will hunt you down to make sure I’m clothed and fed.” Yifan scowled when Sehun then stuck his tongue out at him. Everyone in the shop watched he exchange in amusement, and Sehun seemed to gather himself.

  
“ _Ahem_ , as I was saying, I know because my grandparents ran a hybrid shelter back before they retired.” Jongdae stepped up to Sehun and pinched him in the side.

  
“Hey brat, why are we hearing about this now!? You could have told us sooner!” Jongdae said once Sehun had finished yelping and flailing.

  
Sehun rubbed his side and kicked at Jongdae’s leg, huffing when the shorter man dodged him easily. “How the hell would I tell anyone that? It’s _weird_ to just blurt out hybrid facts and then try to convince someone that I don’t watch _hentai_.”

  
Baekhyun smirked at Sehun, “Don’t try to deny it Sehun, you’re related to Luhan.” Jongdae chocked on another laugh at that, he was never one to miss out on teasing the maknae.

  
Sehun looked affronted and he opened his mouth to argue with both Tweedle dee and Tweedle dumb, but then the bell above the shop door rang out, effectively interrupting him.

  
“Food’s here!” Yifan announced, and everyone practically pounced on the delivery boy.

  
Of course, Jongin was the first one there and he claimed a few boxes for himself. Chanyeol had retreated from the doorway and was walking back to his tattoo station because the secretary’s desk was too crowded for his liking, with just a box of rice in his hands. Jongin followed after him, his ears alert and his tail held up just enough for the brown tip to brush a hairsbreadth away from the floor.

  
There was just enough space for Chanyeol to sit in his chair, and the human was going to suggest that Jongin join the others at the front desk because there was room for one more there, when the kitty promptly sat on him. Feeling his face heat up, aware now of the suggestive hooting and jeering the terrible employees of the shop were giving them, Chanyeol tried to get Jongin to sit beside him, but the hybrid opened up the first of his take out boxes and practically shoved the food in Chanyeol’s face.

  
“Eat hyung,” Jongin’s eyebrows were lowered just a bit over his eyes, and his lips were pressed into what was probably supposed to be a stern line, but ended up a pout. Chanyeol cleared his throat and tried to claim that rice was enough for him, Jongin was hungrier, but the hybrid was having none of it and before Chanyeol could squirm away a tail wrapped around his waist and a peeled orange slice was shoved in his mouth. Surprised, Chanyeol merely bit down on the end and the sweetness of the orange’s juice flooded his mouth

  
Jongin smiled beautifully at him, satisfied that he managed to get Chanyeol to shut up and eat all at once. “Thank you for the food hyung!” Jongin chirped, stealing a bite of the orange half sticking out of Chanyeol’s mouth, soft lips nearly touching the shocked human’s.

  
Sehun watched them from the other side of the room and he smiled, feeling smug because he knew from the simple display that Jongin cared for Chanyeol as more than a simple owner and was aware of his own feelings.

  
Chanyeol, still dazed from the orange slice stunt, was now letting Jongin feed him by hand. Each time the human ate and swallowed, Jongin beamed at him in fulfillment. Chanyeol was obviously blushing, but he didn’t do much beyond thanking Jongin for feeding him when he didn’t have to.

  
Jongin’s talk and ears lowered a bit and Sehun shook his head. ‘ _I can’t tell if hyung is dense or stupid.’_

 

ⓙ♥ⓒ

 

 

  
Chanyeol had a feeling something was off. He could sense it in the air, and it didn’t help that Jongin was not sleeping at his side, half curled up on top of him with the blankets kicked away.

  
Confused, Chanyeol sat up in bed and called for Jongin. The flat remained silent and that alone worried Chanyeol. He wasted no time standing up and wandering down the hallway. “Jongin?” He called out, wondering if maybe he was overreacting, and Jongin just didn’t appear when called because he was too busy playing.

  
Silence greeted him again and Chanyeol frowned as he checked the guest bathroom. The door was unlocked and the lights were off, so Jongin was not there. The living room was bare as well as the kitchen, under the coffee table, and behind the couch. Chanyeol even circled back to his own room and checked under the bed, but he came up empty handed. He was panicking at the various horrid scenarios running through his mind, one of which was Jongin being kidnapped while he was out, or worse: Jongin _voluntarily_ leaving.

  
The last thought was unwarranted, but it made Chanyeol scan his room for any missing items. Jongin’s clothes were still there, but they were mainly old sweatshirts that Chanyeol only kept around because he liked seeing Jongin in the oversized garments. Pacing, Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair and he was about to give in and call someone, when he realized that he had a guest bedroom.

  
The mere fact that he _forgot_ about it made Chanyeol want to slap himself, he should have checked there first! But in his panic he had just retraced the places that Jongin frequented.

  
It was a short walk down the hallway and Chanyeol almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a kitty shaped lump under duck patterned blankets. Jongin stirred slightly and a pair of white ears popped up, along with narrowed brown eyes.

  
“Hyung, are you awake now?” Jongin asked.

  
Chanyeol blinked at him. “Obviously.” He answered in confusion, entering the room and sitting at the edge of Jongin’s rarely used bed.

  
“ _Good,_ ” Jongin replied and before Chanyeol could so much as blink, he had a lap full of warm, soft kitty. Startled, Chanyeol could do no more than hold Jongin by the waist. Faint purring reached his ears, and Chanyeol’s bewildered mind chose to focus on the fact that Jongin felt unbelievably hot in his arms.

  
“You sleep longer than a bear,” Jongin murmured, pressing closer to Chanyeol and pressing a light kiss to the human’s collarbones.

  
The fleeting touch of lips on skin had Chanyeol tensing and his face heating up. ‘ _It’s just innocent affection,’_ He mentally reminded himself as he pulled away slightly, looking down at Jongin’s angry pout. “Kitten, what’s gotten into you?” Usually Jongin sleeps until late in the morning and he gets grouchy when Chanyeol tries to wake him up any sooner.

  
Huffing, Jongin nuzzled into Chanyeol’s neck, and this time there was _no_ way that the open mouthed kiss pressed into the human’s throat could be considered platonic.

  
Chanyeol fought off a shiver and his voice wavered in panic as he braced his hands on Jongin’s shoulder and lightly pushed the hybrid away from his neck. “Jongin! What are you doing?!”

  
Jongin tried slapping away Chanyeol’s hands, but the human was stronger than him. Realizing that he was not getting any closer, Jongin growled and crossed his arms, the action looking annoyed and cute at the same time. “I want to mate with you!” Jongin finally admitted, an enticing red on his cheeks and an agitated flicker to his white and brown tail.

  
Chanyeol felt his heart stop and he almost chocked on air. “What!?! M-mate!?” He finally managed to croak, surely he was hearing things, right!? Or maybe he was having one hell of a vivid dream—

  
“Yes, mate.” Jongin nodded, taking advantage of Chanyeol’s momentary distraction to lean forward and press a kiss right on his mouth. Chanyeol froze and his heart sped up, there was no way Jongin would kiss _him_ of all people.

  
Jongin eventually pulled away, his eyes narrowed and his head tilted to the side, his ears and hair following the movement. “Hyung, why aren’t you accepting? Do you not want me?” The question directed at Chanyeol finally seemed to awaken his senses, only for it to be lost again when Jongin began moving his hips in small, experimental circles. The kitten was still seated on his lap and his moments were bordering dangerous territory.

  
“J-Jongin, stop.” Chanyeol pleaded, hands grasping the hybrids hips and stilling him. Jongin tried tugging his hands away, but he finally stilled and frowned at Chanyeol. “Was I not doing it right? They made it look so _easy_ in the movie…”

  
Chanyeol tried not to give in to his desires when Jongin bit his lip in concentration, “I don’t know _how_ you had time to watch a likely rated movie in secret, but Kitten… _you don’t have to do this.”_ He meant it in the sense that Jongin might have somehow gotten the idea that Chanyeol wanted his body in exchange for a home. That was the _furthest_ thing from Chanyeol's mind when he brought the kitten to his home.

  
Jongin groaned and slumped against Chanyeol, the human’s hands still digging into his hips. “I _want_ to mate! We’ve gone through the courtship!” He managed to mumble with his face buried in Chanyeol’s chest.

  
_“What!”_ Chanyeol exclaimed, wondering when the hell that happened. Jongin lifted his head from his chest and sent him a scathing glower. “Yes, I offered, you accepted, now we mate.”

  
Jongin then pressed another kiss to Chanyeol’s mouth, and despite what Jongin was saying about the desire to mate, his kiss was no more than an innocent press of lips against lips. His inexperience showed and though bewildered at the situation, Chanyeol couldn’t deny that he did kind of want Jongin too.

  
Damn morality, because it had Chanyeol stopping Jongin once again and establishing some space between them. “Wait, wait, wait!” Chanyeol gasped out, trying not to stare at the way Jongin’s lips looked red and swollen. “I think there is a cultural difference here, how exactly did this…uhm proposition happen?”

  
Jongin sighed, his ears twitching and is tail curling in the air behind him. “I presented and you touched me.”

  
Chanyeol almost felt as if he _did_ do something wrong, the way the hybrid worded things made it sound as if he were perving on the kitten. However, aside from the resulting burning on his face and ears, Chanyeol pushed that to the side and tried to remember—

  
Oh, _oh!_

 

 

  
It had happened one evening, when the rainy sky had somehow sapped Jongin of energy and left him sprawled on the floor in a rather strange position. Earlier, he had carried his duck blanket and his pillow into the living room. He laid the blanket on the floor, along with the pillow and he buried his face in it, hips and tail raised high in the air as he cuddled the body sized pillow.

  
Chanyeol had been passing him by, and years of school locker rooms and sports adrenaline must have left an instinct within him, because he didn’t hesitate to slap Jongin on the ass. The hybrid had yelped, making Chanyeol laugh and continue on his way to the kitchen to make himself a snack, thinking nothing significant of the moment.

  
He must have missed the blush on Jongin’s face or the glint in his eyes when he began digging in the fridge.

 

 

  
_“Now_ you remember?” Jongin inquired eagerly. His ears were standing atop his head in unusual alertness, his tail swaying behind him in feigned languidness. His brown eyes were bright and his shy smile was indescribably gorgeous. Catching something in Chanyeol’s eyes, the hybrid’s smile turned into a smirk as he rolled his hips down against Chanyeol. “Now, we mate.” He purred in Chanyeol’s red tipped ear.

  
Instincts are often said to have been derived from an unexplainable drive for survival, and they were usually unconsciously implemented when one was in danger. At the moment, Chanyeol’s instincts pushed him to slip away from Jongin and run to the sanctuary of his bedroom. The door was closed behind him with a bang, and Chanyeol didn’t think to lock it as he dived at his bed and scrambled desperately for his phone.

  
Sehun’s number was the last on the list, and Chanyeol tried to start a video call. He faintly remembered the tattoo apprentice mentioning something about knowing a lot about hybrids, and advice was sorely needed at this moment of crisis.

  
It took a few heart pounding moments, but Sehun’s familiar eyebrows and scowl greeted him on the screen. His own panicked face was reduced to a tiny square in the corner, but Chanyeol paid it no mind when he hear Jongin calling for him somewhere in the hallway.

  
_“Hey. What do you want—_ ”

  
“Howdoyoudealwithahybridinheat!?” Chanyeol blurted, not giving Sehun time to finish his pathetic greeting.

  
“ _What?”_ Sehun asked, his face showing clear confusion. Chanyeol was about to repeat himself again, when he heard the door open.

  
“Hyung! Stop running, we mate _now_!”

  
“Sehun, help by telling me now!” Chanyeol screeched, only to drop his phone when Jongin pounced on his back. The device fell on the floor with a final crack and Chanyeol almost blacked out when Jongin settled above him, hips pressing right against his lower back.

  
“Got you~” Jongin sang gleefully. Chanyeol unburied his face from his pillow and he was about to try and talk some sense into Jongin, even though a small part of him wanted to stay silent and see where this would go.

  
“Jongin, Kitten, _please_ sto— OW SHTI!!” Chanyeol cursed when a sharp set of teeth bit into his neck, right where his shoulder met his nape. The pain was nothing like the playful nips Jongin sometimes gave him when they were playing. In reflex, the human tensed against the unbearable sting and immediately tried to shake off the kitty. In response, Jongin bit harder and after a long and painful ten seconds, he pulled away.

  
Finally free, Chanyeol hissed and pressed a palm to his neck before he twisted his body around, his back pressed into the mattress and the hybrid straddling him. “Jongin! Why the hell did you _bite_ me!?”

  
Jongin smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling and his eyes twinkling in the morning light. His hair was a little disheveled and he was flushed from wrestling with Chanyeol and hunting him down, but overall he appeared immensely pleased with himself.

  
“We mated.”

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
